JEDDAH: Police in the Saudi capital said on Monday they had arrested a woman for taking off her veil in public, posting pictures of her daring action and bragging about a “prohibited relation” on Twitter.
Police spokesman Fawaz Al-Maiman did not name the woman, who triggered a huge backlash on social media after posing without the hijab in a main Riyadh street last month.
Al-Maiman said in a statement that the police in the Kingdom acted in line with their duty to monitor “violations of general morals.”
He said the woman posted a tweet of herself standing next to a popular Riyadh cafe without wearing the headscarf that is required in Saudi society.
The woman, a Saudi national in her 30s, was taken to the female prison, he said, accusing her of “speaking openly about prohibited relations with (non-related) men.”
Al-Maiman added: “Riyadh police stress that the action of this woman violates the laws applied in this country.”
However, on social media many have speculated that the issue is not that the woman went out without her headscarf but for going out in public without an “abaya” and tweeting about it.
The “abaya” is the traditionally black garment women wear over their clothes in some Muslim countries, particularly in the Gulf.
— With input from AFP
